Some Christians in church feel that if people wanted to come to church or get to know Jesus Christ then they would already have done it.
Nowadays it takes a brave person to walk into a church building on their own or start a God conversation with a Christian. God sent his son to invite us all into a relationship, and so to be like God is to be a person who invites.
Jesus invited people all the time, beginning with the first disciples.
Sunday 10th January
Shepherds were thought of a as merely fringe members of society in the culture of Jesus’ day. They lived outside in the fields; they were considered wild and uncivilised. Jesus is therefore being provocative when he says to the Pharisees ‘Which of YOU having a hundred sheep. . .’ Jesus makes clear that the shepherd is responsible for the loss - he has lost a sheep, by his own negligence. Jesus is saying to the Pharisees ‘the shepherd sought the lost sheep, I seek the lost and so should you.’
Sunday 31st January 2021
Come to meet Jesus The woman at the well John 4: 1-29 The passage tells us that Jesus had to pass through Samaria as He was going from Judea to Galilee. This, in and of itself, was uncommon for Jews to do, as Samaritans were part Jew and part Gentile, and greatly disliked by both parties. The sixth hour would have been the hottest part of the day. Most women would come early in the morning or late in the evening to collect water. This woman was clearly avoiding other people. The story shows us that Jesus is the living water. He is not fazed by our sin and he accepts us for who we are.
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Sunday January 17th
The parable focuses on reception of the seed by various kinds of soil. Jesus raises some troubling questions. For instance, who qualifies as ‘good soil’? Since soil cannot change itself, is there any hope for the hardened, rocky, and thorny soil? Are these destined to be unproductive forever? The sower scatters his seed carelessly, recklessly, seemingly wasting much of the seed on ground that holds little promise for a fruitful harvest.
the response from the ‘soil’. |
Sunday 24th January
During the first century AD, the agricultural system of Galilee featured landowners who did not supervise the care of their vineyards directly. Instead, these landowners hired tenant farmers to tend their vines on their behalf. Today’s passage records a parable Jesus told based on the familiar reality of tenant farming. This passage asks us to question our priorities and our allegiance to God. Are we worried about our focus, are we concerned about where our friends and family might be heading for in eternity?
February 7th
Inviting Everyone The parable of the great banquet Luke 14:15-24 The story in Luke’s Gospel was told at a dinner that Jesus attended. The parable Jesus tells is aimed at debunking that notion. The detail that the invitation is opened up to society’s maimed and downtrodden is important. These were the types of people that the Pharisees considered ‘unclean’ and under God’s curse. Jesus, however, taught that the kingdom was available even to those considered ‘unclean’.
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